09.05.2011
Martti Koskenniemi: International Law and Empire: Historical Lessons
Martti Koskenniemi (Director of the Erik Castrén Institute for International Law and Human Rights at the University of Helsinki)
I: Empires of Private Right 1500-1606
II: Empires of Public Power 1625-1914
The two lectures are dedicated to the role of private and public law as instruments of the global exercise of power. Historically, power has not only been exercised in the form of state sovereignty, but also in the private law forms of property and contract. The lectures will show that the global exercise of power is still dependent on both forms. However, too little attention is paid to the global regulatory function of private rights.